Spanish Grenache has a life and verve and even terroir notes that frequently leaves its northern cousins gasping for air – and at prices that are usually a mere fraction of the French stickers.
Truly spectacular, planet-class fruit, 174 years of winemaking expertise, and the unfailing judgment and humility required to taste your grapes, trust their character, and say, “Let me let these speak for themselves”, results in little miracles like this, one of the best value wines of any type it has ever been my pleasure to taste.
“A perfect wine pairing doesn’t exist. We’re doing a lot of damage the way we’re matching wine and categorizing it.”
Tendril is simply the best American winery for Pinot Noir that I have ever come across; even including all those Sonoma and Mt. Eden and San Luis Obispo wineries I love.
With this tannic structure, lovely acidity, and forward fruit, this is a genuine stunner.
Finally…the single most important consideration in choosing your big wine dinner: Realistic Expectations.
By far, the largest sub-group of American Indie/craft breweries is the one for which I’ve borrowed a term from my pals Chris Carter and Doug Baldwin: “A-ight”
Concannon Vineyards is one of the most emphatic and pleasurable shocks I’ve been given in my last ten years as a wine writer
